Trauma Counseling for Adults in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Are you weary of feeling consistently 'stuck' in the fast lane, wondering if your body and mind can remember what it is like to slow down and rest? Maybe you're feeling shut down and it takes effort to do the bare minimum? Struggling to feel connection and support in your close relationships, or wondering how to move forward in a partnership or marriage that feels stagnant? Perhaps you are grieving something that has happened in your life that has left you feeling broken. I value the opportunity to create an environment where you can breathe, connect with safety in mind and body, and engage in a therapeutic relationship as you journey toward greater self-discovery and healing. I’m here to encourage you that the way forward can be more gentle, less exhausting, and more rewarding than it may seem. 

Often, the ways we learn to relate to ourselves, others, and situations early in life show up again and again in our adult lives. Because these patterns and responses are so familiar to us, we often don’t recognize them, or they keep showing up in different areas of our life and we don’t know how to shift them. Therapy with me always involves bringing awareness and acceptance to what is going on at the surface (the topics, exercises, and discussions we have), as well as to what is going on beneath the surface (the relational patterns and wounds, emotions, and body ‘memories’). 

Sessions with me include personalized support where you will learn emotion regulation skills, how to ‘track’ your nervous system, and we together work with your body and mind to regulate and find your felt sense of safety. From this place of safety and connection, together we embrace the pain and past events that have shaped you, for better or worse. Although this is hard work, it also opens the opportunity to embrace new patterns in your life and relationships from a place of deep trust and healing rather than superficial ‘quick fixes’ that don’t stick.

I integrate different types of therapy, to provide attuned and meaningful care that meets your specific needs in an organic way. The modalities that I incorporate include: Somatic Experiencing Therapy, Polyvagal Theory, Internal Family Systems Theory, The Developmental Model of Couples Therapy Methods, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy techniques, and Psychodynamic Therapy.

A Somatic Approach to Trauma Healing

 

  • We first focus on helping your nervous system access safety, noting the internal and external resources that allow you to access the feeling of ‘being anchored’, calm, and capable.


  • This is an intentional step, as it requires us to acknowledge our own expectations and adjust them. We focus here on helping you clarify what you need, and work towards lasting changes in your life and relationships at a pace that makes sense.


  • We utilize the therapeutic relationship to help you build more secure attachment patterns, giving you the skills you need to feel more at home in your relationships.

  • From a place of acceptance and compassion towards ourselves both past and present, we can then begin to wonder at what can be possible in the future. 


  • We build upon the new capacity you have in mind and body. This involves opening up to feelings you haven’t been able to acknowledge, sitting in moments of tension between you and your partner with openness rather than fighting or blame, and trying new ways of responding to internal impulses.